Spatial Omics and Tissue Mapping

• Technologies: Proficient in utilizing spatial omics tools like CODEX (spatial proteomics) and Visium HD (spatial transcriptomics) to study tissue microenvironments in lung and skin samples.

• Collaborations: Collaborated with the prestigious NIH-funded SenNet initiative to explore aging and senescence. This involved leveraging multiplex immunostaining and mRNA profiling to dissect intricate cell-cell interactions at the sub-cellular level, contributing significantly to the understanding of autoimmune diseases and aging biology.

Tissue Processing and Molecular Techniques

• Surgical and Tissue Handling Skills: Demonstrated expertise in performing in-vivo mice surgery, tissue extraction, and processing both fresh frozen and FFPE tissues from diverse organs such as the heart, brain, liver, spleen, and bone marrow across different mice age groups.

• Molecular Techniques: Proficient in tissue sectioning, antigen retrieval, RNA and DNA extraction, and various molecular techniques like PCR, qPCR, gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, and Western blot to investigate disease pathogenesis and aging-related processes.

Antibody Panel Design and Optimization

• Multiplex Imaging: Designed and optimized antibody panels and immunostaining protocols for multiplexed imaging of over 60 biomarkers on a single tissue section. Utilized size exclusion chromatography (SEC) for antibody purification and conjugation to enable high-resolution multiplex imaging of tissue specimens.

Advanced Assay Utilization and Cellular Analysis

• Senescence Assays: Utilized the SPiDER-βGal Cellular Senescence assay to identify senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) activity in tissues, contributing to aging research.

• Visium HD Assay: Conducted the Visium HD Spatial Gene Expression assay from 10X Genomics on both fresh frozen and FFPE tissues (gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior) across different mice age groups. This involved steps such as H&E staining, RNA extraction for determining the RNA integrity number, probe hybridization, ligation, and capture on Visium HD slides, to analyze mRNA expression at the single-cell level for insights into aging and neuromuscular disorders like Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD).

Data Analysis and Laboratory Standardization

• Bioinformatics Skills: Skilled in bioinformatics and data analysis techniques, including clustering, segmentation, UMAP, and differential expression analysis. These techniques are used to create maps and identify spatial molecular patterns, cellular subpopulations, and tissue-specific changes at the single-cell level.

• Statistical Analysis: Expertise in using platforms such as R and Python for statistical analysis, visualization, and integration of multi-omics data.

• SOP Development: Contributed to the development and implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure consistency and reproducibility of experimental protocols.

Laboratory Management and Operational Support

• Operational Oversight: Managed laboratory operations, including inventory control, supply procurement, and environmental health and safety (EHS) waste management.

• Equipment Maintenance: Oversaw equipment maintenance, sterilization processes, and autoclaving, ensuring compliance with biosafety protocols and proper functioning of microscopes, PCR machines, and cryopreservation systems.

Collaborative Research and Mentorship

• Collaborations: Spearheaded and managed three pivotal collaborations within the lab, developing novel, customized antibody panels and immunostaining methodologies for disease-specific tissue profiling in organs such as the heart, brain, and liver. These innovative approaches not only contributed to cross-institutional research efforts but also significantly advanced our understanding of tissue-specific pathophysiology, leading to groundbreaking insights into disease mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets.

• Mentorship: Mentored junior researchers in histological techniques, including immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence (IF), providing hands-on training in tissue sectioning, and microscopy for precise data acquisition and analysis.